Australia approves first koala chlamydia vaccine

Australia has approved the first vaccine designed to protect koalas from chlamydia, regulators and researchers said, a development scientists hope will curb a disease that has devastated populations of the endangered marsupial. The veterinary product, cleared this month by the Australian Pesticides and Veterinary Medicines Authority, can now be used in wildlife hospitals, veterinary clinics and in field operations to protect the most at risk animals, researchers said.

The single dose vaccine was developed over more than a decade by a team at the University of the Sunshine Coast led by microbiologist Peter Timms and molecular microbiologist Sam Phillips. It targets Chlamydia pecorum, the strain that sickens koalas, and is built around the pathogen's major outer membrane protein with three protein targets and a specially formulated adjuvant that boosts immune response. Researchers said trials involving hundreds of wild and captive koalas across multiple generations showed the jab reduced the likelihood of koalas developing symptoms during breeding age and cut mortality from the disease in wild populations by at least 65 percent.

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